Notice how I skipped February? That’s because I didn’t have any free time in February. Or for most of March. Don’t tell my union, but I’ve been staying late at the office consistently, working through my lunches and breaks, etc.—and then hitting my second job at night. My mammoth workload is partly due to the fact that a reality TV show host + conman has been scrapping my country for parts.
One thing I accomplished in March was starting a new book. More on that later, maybe, if I ever talk about my writing projects in public.
The other thing is that I migrated hosting for this site. My needs are the blog equivalent of a paper napkin with some scrawl on it thumbtacked to the bulletin board at a local pub; I am not going to pay $$$ for “great features” to “leverage” my audience of approximately twelve family members and friends. The webhost business model seems to be locking people in and then hiking their rates absurdly high on renewal. This is silly. I would’ve kept paying the same rate until I died of old age, but SiteGrounds being a moneygrubbing nuisance motivated me to find the door. Too bad for them that I have a tech savvy friend willing to walk me through the pain in the ass that is host migration. I’m with NixiHost now, and if they also hike my rates in a couple years, I’ll at least not be learning the process of switching from scratch.
Short stories
“Written on the Subway Walls” by Jennifer Hudak
A story about the personification of a city space that was a canal, a railroad, and is now an abandoned tunnel sheltering the homeless.
“This Mentor Lives” by J. R. Dawson & John Wiswell
A sweet story about heroes staging an intervention to save the mentor who helped save their worlds.
The Tor summary nails it: “The spirit of a recently deceased young boy helps a group of ghosts seek revenge on a corrupt and abusive town minister.”
The visceral language describing how the boy’s ghost embodies what he haunts made this an interesting read.
“After the Invasion of the Bug-Eyed Aliens” by Chalzea Xu
The narrative was all over the place, but in a fun, slice-of-life way. The story did not feel anywhere near as long as it actually is.
“The Angel’s Share” by Martin Cahill
Tor’s summary makes this one sound funnier than it is. It’s about refusing to let go of negative feelings until they eat you alive. The ending was kind of abrupt.
A woman’s business trip is derailed when she receives a phone call from her terrified child. One of those slow-burn horrors where the narrative dripfeeds the reader the revelation that the protagonist’s family/life is more fucked up than it first appears. The ending was very abrupt.
Comics
Story complete. An adorable period romance about a lower-class woman who adopts the persona of an educated widow to secure her dream job. And then has to keep the charade up around the man falling for her.
